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Newsroom
15-07-2025
- Business
- Newsroom
State of Wayne's Auckland: No easy fixes
It's going to be a difficult job 'fixing' Auckland. Just ask the fixit mayor, Wayne Brown, whose city seems to be drifting lower against its international peer cities on important measures of productivity, opportunity, innovation and knowledge. A new survey does show Auckland performing ahead of overseas centres on culture and experience, sustainability and resilience, although it is losing ground on the 'experience' factor. The latest State of the City report from the Committee for Auckland, Deloitte and the Auckland Council finds the 'prosperity' measure has dropped the most this year of three years of monitoring. That equates to Brown's first term in office, although there are lags between political change and subsequent data. It highlights a range of challenges that in reality would be beyond any individual mayor or council. 'While this reflects the cumulative effect of economic and pandemic headwinds that have hit Auckland, the gaps that have opened up also point to more long-standing and systemic issues that are now acting as a handbrake on progress,' the report says. Brown accepts the findings, telling political, business and community leaders the report 'highlights an urgent need to lift Auckland's economic performance and competitiveness'. But early in his speech he delivered a confronting reality about just how much of that improvement can be influenced by Auckland itself. He dropped the 'R' word and told his audience not to believe central government 'spin'. 'While the economy has improved over the last couple of years, it started off a pretty low base. Auckland like the rest of New Zealand is still recovering from core financial decisions made following the Covid thing by the previous government. 'Despite the spin from Wellington, the Reserve Bank's real time measure of economic activity shows GDP is already sliding back into recession.' That stark prediction cannot have been a comfortable message for the Minister for Local Government, Simon Watts, who also spoke at the State of the City event. Brown said at the heart of the problem was productivity. 'We're simply not producing enough with the resources we've got.' The State of the City report focused hard on the P word. 'It is clear Auckland's own version of the productivity puzzle is long-running, multi-faceted, and requires both national and local focus to fully leverage Auckland as an escalator for productivity nationwide in the way other cities do for their nations.' It says Auckland ranks 99th globally for productivity and last among the peer cities the report has compared it with over time. Peers were Copenhagen, Fukuoka, Vancouver, Austin, Tel Aviv, Dublin and Helsinki. 'Across different studies, Auckland's productivity – at least in terms of economic output per person – is now rated in the region of 15-20 percent lower than comparable cities. As Auckland is the engine of New Zealand's economy with a nearly 40 percent share of national GDP, this lower productivity seriously impacts overall national growth.' On productivity, Brown did not duck the responsibility of Auckland to improve on behalf of all New Zealand. 'You fix Auckland, you fix New Zealand,' he said, quoting his own political slogan since assuming the office in 2022. 'The solution to New Zealand's productivity problem is right here.' Brown said Auckland had made progress since his election on council costs, rate increases, reform of council-owned organisations and winning back transport policy functions from Auckland Transport. He had just announced an innovation taskforce to drive research, knowledge, entrepreneurship and jobs. But he showed some sensitivity to challenges he faced to 'fix' issues faster and more broadly. The mayor told the audience: 'You have to have the right direction, but nothing's easy. 'So when you put your hand up and say [adopts a whingeing voice] 'Why haven't you fixed that problem?' … Just think how difficult it is. How did it get to where it is now? That's an even bigger question.' Brown believed the Government was trying its best, and praised RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and noted a good working relationship with Watts. But his mission to get Wellington out of Auckland's affairs as much as possible remained. 'You've created a regional government. You've got to treat us like that, and don't expect it to be otherwise, not while I'm in charge, anyway.' In true Brown style, there were some pithy put-downs of central Government officials – Ministry of Transport people 'weaselling away trying to find something negative' about the changes to Auckland Transport; other initiatives agreed at a high level in Auckland 'have to go down there and be fought through a multitude of morons'. And the benefits of applying AI to transport, for example, was frequently countered by what he called NS – natural stupidity. 'So it takes a lot of strength, on both sides. We are trying to show we are trying to lead for the rest of New Zealand. There are some important messages we have to sell to the rest of NZ. There's a lot of votes in Auckland but there's a hell of a lot of votes elsewhere as well.' He welcomed Auckland being one of the three first cities or regions to advance to the next phase of applications for the Government's City and Regional Deals – where a 10-year plan of development would be agreed with aligned planning and economic goals. The Western Bay of Plenty, based on Tauranga, is expected to be the first to get the go-ahead later this year. Brown: 'We've got to turn the city deals from a slogan into something that actually works. I'm not in a rush to be first, or second, or third, but we are the biggest. 'It does require a conversation of two grown-ups. It's not [a case] of a school teacher telling me as a pupil what you are going to get. It's got to be … serious grown-up conversations with the Government.' Watts said there was a high degree of alignment between the Government and Auckland Council. He cited his 'having architected the City Regional Deals while in opposition and now having them signed', the Government's water reforms, RMA reform, as being helpful but 'probably not starting to be felt until next year or the year after.' Another benefit from Government could be to 'just get out of the bloody way. Get out of the way of business, get out of the way of local government, acknowledging that sometimes the biggest challenge is we get in the way and we are not the best party to be involved. 'It's just that maturity of perspective.' Watts had lived in Vancouver, London and Singapore and recognised a global perspective was needed. 'Yeah we are great and there are so many things that make us better than so many of those other cities. But there are so many things that we could be and should be better than what we are.' He challenged attendees to step up. 'It's not just the mayor or the minister. It's the people in here and sitting in these seats. You have more power to influence, to affect that change than anyone sitting up on the front stage. 'The concern in the report is that we might fall back. And that would be intolerable.' Acknowledging the State of the City's concern about Auckland lagging in some areas and the risk of falling still further, the minister claimed 'we have got the pillars in place and now need to move into the delivery phase'. 'Auckland is the economic powerhouse of this country. It does drive our success or our failure. I think I would give [Auckland's performance in] the report a solid B, with room for improvement. That's not a bad place to be, where we are, but we shouldn't be satisfied with a B.' The State of the City report summarises the implications of its findings. Report author Tim Noonan, of the Business of Cities urban intelligence and policy group in the UK, said dozens of cities worldwide had held a mirror up to themselves and honestly asked what it would take to improve. Auckland's issues were not insurmountable but were connected and needed an integrated response. It should be a national endeavour, private and public sector, corporates, institutions, and innovators, on behalf of existing and future citizens The State of the City report indicated, through the three years of surveys, that Auckland found itself 'stuck'. Auckland outperforms peers on what he called acquired attributes, things that take generations to develop like natural and physical capital – place and culture and resilience. But in pillars that really drive growth it is not doing well. 'Opportunities remain below par throughout this period of time. Other cities internationally have now moved in some cases quite substantially ahead on investment, business appeal, job outcomes, wages versus costs. 'On balance, more capital, more talent is consistently flowing out to larger and better places. 'Prosperity clearly stands out as the biggest drop across the three issues of the State of the City.' Auckland's productivity problem was more 'vexing' than other cities and had both city-specific and national origins. 'Auckland's not performing as the escalator of productivity as other equivalent cities do for their nations. 'The concern is that the levers for turning the productivity tide are not yet ready to pull.' Noonan said Auckland was now at an inflection point. 'There's a moment here. The ground being lost in important areas is too sizeable to be ignored.' And he had a telling caution: 'The risk that other cities' experience tells us that Auckland has to avert is the slow drip in opportunities elsewhere, a waning of visibility, a softening if you like of ambition and appeal.'
The Spinoff
14-07-2025
- Politics
- The Spinoff
Auckland's annual report card is out again – and its grades have barely budged
The 2025 State of the City report shows marginal improvements more than cancelled out by some big drops. So what can be done to turn around the persistent malaise that grips the supercity? Mid-July is a tough time to be in Auckland. In summer the sea all around is calling you to be on it or in it, or at least looking at it. In July the water is mainly coming down on you, and you're stuck indoors brooding on the city's problems. So it's the worst but also maybe the most honest time for the third annual ' State of the City ' report to be released. It's a review and ranking of Auckland against a group of peer cities, and the results are grim. The city is at a 'turning point', according to the report. Normally the expression would imply an arc towards some new exciting future. In fact, it implies that as bad as it is, it could get worse. 'Weak economic performance, inadequate skills and innovation development, and disjointed and delayed planning are causing Auckland to lose ground, with the risk of falling further behind,' says Mark Thomas, the chair of Committee for Auckland, an independent organisation that funds and commissions the report. It's striking that the tone of the reports and the accompanying commentary has shifted from ambitious to almost plaintive. 'The mission of cities to decarbonise and to heal deep social divides has also come much more into the spotlight,' read the 2023 edition. Just two years ago, and yet a different time. Later that year, Auckland swung pretty firmly to the right in the general election, which makes that Ardern-ish sentiment feel aspirational to the point of absurdity. The 2025 report is notably more sober about the issues facing Tāmaki Makaurau. 'The cyclical challenges facing New Zealand's global city have been magnified… In 2025 we find that many measures still endorse Auckland as a top 10 city for balanced quality of life, and one of the world's most open and diverse cities. But challenges persist and those with a stake in Auckland's success need to work together to realise the promise the city has to offer current and future generations.' It's a polite way of saying that across the three reports of 2023, 2024 and 2025, the city feels stagnant and decaying. Is there any good news? The report is compiled from 'more than 140 global city benchmark and research studies, which together span more than 900 comparative metrics'. Those are then broken down into 10 areas, allowing us to be measured within a basket of 10 cities chosen due to: Reputation as one of the most liveable cities in their continent Smaller size and distance from global circuits Natural setting Climate uncertainties Drive to sustain success Some of those markers seem a given – which cities aren't trying to 'sustain success' or suffering from 'climate uncertainty'? – but in general the group feels well-chosen, at least in terms of what we would like to think of as our strengths. The other cities are Austin, Brisbane, Copenhagen, Dublin, Fukuoka, Helsinki, Portland, Tel Aviv and Vancouver. We'd like to think we belong in that group. Sometimes, reading this report, it's hard to be convinced that we will for much longer. There are some good points, though. Auckland has been assessed as improving across four of the pillars (culture, opportunity, resilience and innovation). Its improvement in resilience is described as in part through 'ability to respond to shocks'. This can only be proved by testing, but while Auckland is still standing after Covid and the floods of early 2023, it's hard to brag about resilience when the city still feels somewhat broken. Its cultural standing is put down to the quality of its architecture and dining, but points are deducted for the quality of its major events and sports. The latter is a bit of a blind spot for the report. Sport has been one of the few good news stories for the city, with both the Warriors' sustained popularity and Auckland FC's spectacular launch season evidence of a latent vitality which can erupt when properly channeled. Yet its major events issues are a compelling counterpoint: it is markedly falling off the map for many promoters, as artists increasingly perform mini-residencies in major cities and ask fans to travel to meet them. The implication is that Auckland is not a major city, nor New Zealand a major country. Similarly, the praise for the film industry feels overblown – the sector endured a long and painful run which is not yet over. Likewise, part of Auckland's culture score is attributed to its globally significant superdiversity. Which genuinely has made the city feel like few others – but the awkward truth is that its diversity is essentially a product of successive governments cranking the immigration tap, largely in response to young people leaving in droves. Its improvement in innovation is attributed to growth in sophistication of its venture capital community, and its broader startup ecosystem. Which is good. But the critiques feel harsher than the praise. 'Auckland has fewer firms in its start-up pipeline, and fewer exits, than most of its peers, [and] there is an order-of-magnitude difference in scale between Auckland's current total enterprise value and the average of its competitors.' Tellingly, we rank equal last for 'unicorns' – technology businesses valued at more than $1bn. Where the city falls It feels grimly instructive that Auckland's wins are contestable and somewhat reliant on either external factors (storms) or unintended consequences (immigration). Our failures are much more directly attributable to poor policy and planning. This feels most jarring when the achievements of other cities are rattled off. Copenhagen approved a new nine-station metro that will open up a reclaimed island. Tel Aviv commenced a three-ring congestion charging system which will raise $600m for public transport. Austin announced a huge Samsung innovation campus, backed by an $8bn government grant. And Dublin will in 2027 start construction on a driverless MetroLink that will halve commuting times across the city. In Auckland, by comparison, we have talked a lot about a new stadium before picking the old one, weird location and all. We had a bold and privately funded bid for a new sports complex, before the process seemingly chased the money away. We announced light rail to the airport, before taking so long to break ground a new government could simply put a line through it. The two most profound pieces of transport infrastructure the city has commissioned this century (the CRL and the Waterview tunnel) were funded more than a decade ago. This gets to the areas where the city is sliding backwards. They are place, experience and prosperity – a marked two-rung drop. Place is defined as 'the overall desirability and coherence of a city as a mosaic of discrete and distinctive living environments'. Experience is what the city offers to its residents and visitors in terms of 'interactions, engagements and encounters'. Prosperity means exactly what you think it means. If these feel like more important pillars than some of the others, as well as things we can more control, that's because they are. It gets to the maddening reality of Auckland as a city right now. For all its history, cultural diversity and incredible twin-harbour location, it is a city which feels stuck. Even when we get a win – a globally admired approach to upzoning for housing density, for example – we find a way to take an L, by failing to invest sufficient to really get a housing pipeline operating. Who owns the bad grades? The uncomfortable truth behind the report is that while some of these problems are Auckland's alone, most of them are interlinked and have political authors. Building is costly and risky in part because of our planning laws and regulations. Operating many businesses is wildly expensive due to the eye-watering cost of power, which is in short supply in part due to those planning laws. Housing remains incredibly expensive, particularly for a low-wage economy, because: see above. As a result, our young leave in droves, thinning the tax base from which to pay our relatively generous universal superannuation. Once mighty corporates like The Warehouse and Spark seem to be decaying before our eyes, in part because our talent works elsewhere. And the lack of bipartisan agreement on how to fix any of this holds back investment, which might improve productivity and create opportunities that keep younger people here, or bring them home. Over the weekend a group of inner-suburban business associations took a rare full page advocacy ad in the Weekend Herald, demanding 'action on social issues in our city'. It decried the lack of progress on crime and rough sleeping in their neighbourhoods. The inner city has been a construction site for years, with high retail vacancies, persistent hospitality closures, the rise of work-from-home culture and inadequate transport all combining into a powerful repellent force. The following day, a group of business leaders published an open letter calling for urgent action to fix a 'broken' energy sector. It feels symptomatic of a sense of polycrisis throughout the city. It means an excess of hope is pinned to the City Rail Link and, to a lesser extent, the SkyCity Convention Centre, both due to open next year. They remain the city's most plausible hope at turning around the persistent malaise this report highlights. However they are also the result of decisions made years ago. What matters now is what comes next. On that the report is stark in its conclusions. We have great human potential and natural features. But without meaningful political change we will continue to squander both.
Newsroom
28-06-2025
- Business
- Newsroom
Govt set to announce special development deal with one city
The Government is on the cusp of declaring its first 'city and regional deal' to unlock growth potential around one major centre – most likely to be Tauranga. It hopes a deal can be a game-changer for the western Bay of Plenty region. Two other centres, almost certainly to include Auckland and possibly Queenstown, are likely to be announced as next off the rank, priority deals to be negotiated through 2026. Cabinet reportedly scrutinised on Monday officials' assessments of cities' so-called 'light-touch proposals', or applications for the unique central government-local government funding and planning deals for roads, housing and infrastructure. A first, signed memorandum of understanding, to underline the coalition Government's commitment to 'going for growth,' had been listed in its latest quarterly action plan ending June 30, next Monday. In February, cities and regions submitted their bids for the special government treatment, which could mimic some of the principles followed most famously by the UK government with Manchester. Applicants had been urged to put forward up to five priority projects in their area that would unlock economic growth. The expected deals would be long-term commitments by those cities, having consulted their private sector and local iwi, to pursue development that also meets central government goals. While guidelines from the Internal Affairs Department to potential applicants said deals should rely on existing resources, rather than new funding, they said the agreements would set out a framework of how new funding could be used when available. So Tauranga, which those close to the process expect to have made a compelling case for Wellington backing given its population, housing and transport growth, would not be in for an initial financial windfall In March, the two ministers leading the policy, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Local Government Minister Simon Watts, said it was 'designed to help reduce New Zealand's infrastructure deficit through unlocking productivity, attracting investment and improving connectivity across the country. 'Delivering a joint long-term vision for regions will ensure they remain focused on delivering what matters most to ratepayers, including critical infrastructure like housing and transport.' Watts said successful councils would need to show how each initiative would match other government priorities such as the Local Water Done Well reforms of water services. One of the features of the deals will be that central and local government budgets and investment strategies will be synchronised to maximise the impact of resources. Committee for Auckland director Mark Thomas wrote for Newsroom at the start of this government's term that more than 30 city deals were operating in the UK – some focused beyond infrastructure and housing. Edinburgh, for example, had struck a $600m innovation city deal with the Scottish and UK governments to accelerate productivity and growth by funding data-driven innovation, research, development and technology hubs. In Australia 12 city deals were already in operation when our coalition Government took office, covering urban priorities from transport infrastructure, entertainment centres and stadiums to workforce development. Thomas says 'city deals need guaranteed funding arrangements to be credible and innovative arrangements involving the private sector can play an important part.' The Internal Affairs guidelines required an initial 10-year strategic plan with 'clear outcomes and actions required to achieve them' and there had to be a 30-year vision for the region. Auckland councillors were tipped by their chief executive Phil Wilson at their monthly meeting on Thursday to expect to hear the Government's city deal news next week. Chris Bishop's office did not address Newsroom's questions over whether the Cabinet had considered the city and regional deal assessments last Monday, or if one would be announced next week. It offered seven timeless words of deflection: 'Ministers will make announcements in due course.' The Tauranga-based bid was in the name of three councils, Tauranga City, the Western Bay of Plenty District and the Bay of Plenty Region and developed with iwi and the area's economic development agency Priority One. Tauranga Mayor Mahe Drysdale said: 'Government has done a great job of signalling investment in the region through the Roads of National Significance programme, and now we want to build on that initiative to deliver growth in core infrastructure that will enable 40,000 additional homes and unleash jobs and economic growth.' Regional council chair Doug Leeder said another key component of the deal would be to enable increased exports and export income for New Zealand via the Port of Tauranga. The bid proposal listed three priorities: 1. Deliver the Western and Northern Corridors with major roading projects – Tauriko Network Connections and Takitimu North Stage 2, enabling housing and industrial land development. 2. Develop the Eastern Corridor by unlocking key land development projects; Te Tumu, Rangiuru and Te Kāinga. 3. Enable exports, resilience and decarbonisation of freight led by the Connecting Mount Maunganui project. The committee for Auckland's Mark Thomas told Newsroom the Auckland proposal was also strong. 'The Auckland deal has been put together with high-level private and public sector and iwi involvement and is a quality product. 'Two years of State of the City reports on Auckland have confirmed a long-term partnership, like a regional deal, between Auckland and Government is the only way to address the systemic and long-standing issues impacting Auckland's performance such as our low peer innovation performance, our skills deficits, and underinvestment in transport.'
Newsroom
29-05-2025
- Business
- Newsroom
Drop the ball on innovation, Auckland, and it's everyone's loss
Comment: If Auckland were to tragically pass away tomorrow, the cause of death would likely be listed as transport dysfunction, unaffordable housing, and environmental stress – the city's most visible, immediate ailments. But if it were to fade 50 years from now, the cause would likely be deeper: a long-running failure to invest in innovation, human capital and other core assets. For the past two years, the State of the City international benchmarking report has consistently shown that innovation and skills development are among Auckland's lowest-performing areas – ranking even below transport and housing affordability in both international performance and perception rankings. These deficits don't show up on our rush-hour delays and real estate doldrums and so our news headlines are dominated by the day to day of potholes and property prices rather than how well we're building the capability and solutions to solve these challenges. That's why the announcement during last week's TechWeek by Mayor Wayne Brown of the new Auckland Innovation and Technology Alliance may prove to be one of the most important steps Auckland has taken toward actually solving its most persistent challenges. The alliance, an initiative supported by the Committee for Auckland, the Auckland Tech Council, and the Auckland Council Group, will bring together leaders from business, investment, research, and local and central government. Its mission is to provide strategic leadership, improve coordination, and drive deal making and investment to position Auckland as a globally competitive tech and innovation hub. Importantly, it can help generate the insight, capability and investment needed to solve our headline problems more effectively. It could also help Auckland better align its strengths with the national reforms underway in science and technology. Unless New Zealand begins to seriously address our persistent innovation and skills gaps, we will continue to undercut our capacity to tackle the main issues we fixate on. Auckland has a significant innovation base – including our startup ecosystem, well-regarded universities and advanced technology firms – but it is not being supported, developed, or funded to the level seen in other comparable cities. International city experience Internationally, mayoral leadership has been a defining feature of successful urban innovation efforts. In peer cities like Brisbane, Vancouver, Copenhagen and Helsinki, mayors or city leaders have led or supported innovation alliances that directly link technology development to real urban challenges. In Barcelona, Tel Aviv, Toronto and Boston, mayoral backing of innovation districts and alliances has unlocked national support, attracted private capital, and elevated the global competitiveness of their cities. Take Boston's Innovation District, originally launched by Mayor Tom Menino. By convening universities, startups, real estate developers and the state government, the city turned a neglected waterfront into one of the world's most vibrant innovation hubs. In Barcelona, the 22@ district, led by mayor Joan Clos, attracted more than 4500 companies and over 56,000 new jobs, catalysing a transformation from industrial decay to digital-era growth. The message is clear: cities have the convening power and proximity to act, and mayoral leadership can spark broader action. The benefits of these alliances are now well documented. Cities that align policy, research, entrepreneurship and investment through shared platforms deliver faster precinct development, more targeted capital deployment, better talent retention, and stronger appeal to international investors. They are also more responsive to global shifts in AI, sustainability, and advanced manufacturing. Of course, not all alliances succeed. Some fail due to vague mandates, bureaucratic overreach, or lack of follow-through. Others stall when political momentum fades. The key is focus. Smart alliances are lean, delivery-oriented, and co-governed by the people who actually drive innovation. These will be essential design principles as Auckland builds its new alliance. Another critical factor is central government engagement. In nearly every successful international example, central governments play a supporting role — through infrastructure investment, funding alignment, or enabling regulation. Australia's former City Deals framework helped cities like Brisbane and Townsville align local innovation goals with national priorities. In the UK, Innovate UK co-invests in regional innovation clusters, recognising that cities are where applied R&D meets real-world challenges. New Zealand underperformance By contrast, New Zealand has underperformed. Despite a growing global consensus – from the OECD, World Economic Forum, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and our own Sir Peter Gluckman – that cities must play a central role in driving innovation, we continue to centralise innovation policy and funding in Wellington, with limited regional differentiation. Auckland, despite being home to more than a third of the country's population and its largest concentration of tech companies, startups and universities, has had no formal role in shaping or steering national innovation strategy. This is a missed opportunity. Compared with our peer cities, Auckland's innovation potential is under-supported by national policy, under-developed in terms of coordination and investment, and under-valued in our national narrative. There is now an overwhelming body of international evidence that city-led innovation alliances improve national outcomes. They test solutions faster, adapt more nimbly, and build resilient, place-based innovation ecosystems. A more distributed, city-partnered model is not a threat to national strategy – it's an enabler. The Government should partner with the Auckland Innovation and Technology Alliance. That means engaging, co-investing, and aligning R&D tax, investment attraction, and science funding tools to better reflect city-based strengths. The Government's upcoming science reforms and its new Regional Deals policy – which aims to deliver long-term place-based economic growth – provide an opening to finally embed this approach. Auckland, alongside cities like Wellington and Christchurch and others, could be part of that new approach. The alliance could serve as a model. Aucklanders will continue to wake up worrying about traffic congestion, house prices, or the cost of living. But our innovation and knowledge gaps are quietly limiting our ability to fix those very problems. A better-supported, city-led innovation ecosystem won't just grow our economy. It will shape how Auckland moves, builds, and adapts, and ensure that if the city is ever eulogised, the cause of death won't be neglect. Mark Thomas is a director with the Committee for Auckland, which has been advising Mayor Wayne Brown on the Auckland Innovation and Technology Alliance.
Techday NZ
20-05-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
Auckland unveils alliance to unite & grow city technology sector
Auckland's Mayor has outlined a plan to establish a new Innovation & Technology Alliance, aimed at improving collaboration between public and private sectors to grow the city's technology sector and boost economic productivity. During his speech, the Mayor framed the current era as "the century of software, AI, robotics" and highlighted Auckland's position within the Indo-Pacific region. "You might be wondering why a mayor is getting involved in the tech sector. Well, I'm an engineer, problem solver, and I saw a problem. To me, problems represent opportunities," he said. The Mayor cited the Committee for Auckland's State of the City report from 2023, which revealed that Auckland lagged behind peer cities in connectivity and innovation. He described how international visits influenced his perspective on potential solutions. "Then in Bengaluru I visited the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms and saw a solution that can be emulated here. And in the state of Connecticut? I saw a state umbrella to produce an ecology of profitable innovation that can also happen here," he said. Addressing the importance of city-to-city engagement in world trade, the Mayor continued, "As Peter said, world trade is now more city-to-city than country-to-country, and I know many of the big city leaders in Asia, India and Brazil. And can help that I get to see leaders that government ministers can't. I can certainly help with the connection part, and the innovation part is where you all come in." He identified several issues within Auckland's technology sector, stating, "Right now, the tech sector is not joined up. We have all the great ideas in New Zealand, and Auckland has great networks that feed these, but we lack coordination and follow-through. And of course, mostly we lack a pathway to scale for our start-ups. It's clear we need leadership to join industry with the public sector. To lift smart innovators into real scale. I'm aware this is NOT news to you all, but for some reason no one's done anything about it." Reflecting on the consequences of inaction, he added, "Without leadership, too many great ideas don't become great New Zealand companies. RocketLab did become a great company, but there should be more. Without leadership you get mostly trivia and entertainment." Citing Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir, the Mayor said, "Alex Karp, one of Time Magazine's most influential people of 2025 and CEO of AI and data analytics firm, Palantir, has spoken about this problem. To paraphrase, he speaks of a generation of founders in Silicon Valley who've cloaked themselves in lofty and ambitious purpose. Their rally cries to 'change the world' have, and I quote, 'raised enormous amounts of capital and hired legions of talented engineers merely to build photo-sharing apps and chat interfaces for the modern consumer.' Is that what we want our best brains working on? It would be quite embarrassing to make the same mistakes here. We have some of the world's most innovative people, we're known the world over for it. I'm asking you today to put that to use to produce meaningful, profitable applications that lift our city and country's already great advantages in food tech, medtech, biotech, and fintech." The Mayor set out a goal for Auckland to "lead New Zealand on a path to prosperity by raising productivity and real GDP per capita," asserting that the council must play a more strategic role to identify and remove barriers to innovation. He outlined four key areas of concern: capital, research, talent, and scale. On capital, he stated, "New Zealand's 'capital shallow' economy is unhelpful. Could we be using KiwiSaver to invest in New Zealand more? Simplicity is doing some work in this space with Ice House." The Mayor also noted the lack of cohesion between universities and industry as a barrier: "I'm told there's a lack of cohesion between universities and industry. I'm told ideas die early in the journey either because there's a businessperson who doesn't know how to do research and work with government, or there's a researcher who doesn't know how to do business. I'm told many fintech start-ups have died because of the Government's tight controls on open banking and the big four Australian banks' aversion to this. I'm told we could be using tax return data to identify promising companies. I don't believe in picking winners, but we must be accountable with the money we spend here." Regarding research, he added, "It seems universities don't speak to each other. I'm told that researchers often struggle to transition into entrepreneurial roles due to significant barriers in commercialising research. University-held intellectual property rights stifle this, as do regulatory hurdles and limited access to research facilities. And universities also don't seem to care too much about what's happening in the real world; they're well out of touch with industry here. I have had next to no contact from universities despite being that rare thing: a business-oriented mayor." On talent, the Mayor remarked, "Now if you get capital and research right, you'll get good talent." He reiterated the need for Auckland to pursue scale in its ventures: "But of course, we also need to provide the scale-up opportunities; we can't just buy and sell to ourselves. As I mentioned, I know India is asking for ideas to feed and medicate their growing middle class (350 million and growing) and wants to help with access to their scale." The Mayor presented the Auckland Innovation & Technology Alliance as a solution, stating, "The solution is a partnership between the public and private sectors to recharge growth and take up the opportunities lying in wait. This starts with the establishment of the Auckland Innovation & Technology Alliance that will bring together the public and private sectors to attract capital and boost productivity. It will provide strategic leadership, encourage coordination, and drive deal-making and investment to strengthen Auckland's position as a globally competitive tech and innovation hub. This joined-up approach is a first for New Zealand. I'm also offering my leadership and overseas connections to assist with this." He called for the government to establish an Advanced Technology Institute in Auckland, pointing to the city's concentration of resources. "That is why I am also calling on the government to establish the new Advanced Technology Institute in Auckland. As New Zealand's only global city, we are the obvious place for this. The institute could play a crucial role in guiding new start-ups through the system so ideas don't 'die on the vine'." Emphasising action, the Mayor added, "This isn't about more meetings or talkfests. It's about doing things that make a difference: helping good ideas grow, getting more investment into Auckland ventures, and making sure we get value for every dollar of public and private effort. We're not starting from scratch. We're building on the groundwork done by many, including our council's tech industry group and GridAKL, and we have strong support from the Auckland Business Chamber, the Committee for Auckland and Tech Council, the University of Auckland, and many others across the sector." The Mayor concluded by encouraging his audience to focus on meaningful innovation. "New Zealanders have always been innovators. We have the ideas; let's make it easier for these ideas to be used here before they're exported to the world. Kiwis know how to make good deals, and we've done well overseas. Let's open Auckland up so our kids don't have to leave New Zealand to take advantage of growth elsewhere. May I ask once you leave here today, you keep these key questions top of mind: What is the problem you're trying to solve? Is it unique tech or copy-pasted from someone else's idea? Does this tech actually solve the problem? And for who? How many people is it going to impact? Does it create jobs locally that pay well? We must do this while keeping in mind that silly chat interfaces are not the answer, and we must stop trying to reinvent social media, move on from that. My challenge to you is to aim higher. It is my pleasure to open this forum. I hope that's got you thinking. I look forward to hearing your discussions today."
